Contact wire clamps are utilized in the rail industry to, for example, support feeder jumpers or hangers in a catenary type arrangement. In many cases, the clamps are used in non-slip type applications. When in use for feeder jumpers, for example, there are no loads applied to the clamp other than small wind loads and the dead weight of the feeder jumper cable. However, in some cases, such clamps are utilized in application which have slip potential.
For example, in compound type catenary applications the clamp provides for support of a safety cable (also referred to herein as a safety rope) running directly above the contact wire, and there may or may not be a certain degree of tension in the cable. The application is still a no-load type of assembly for the clamps. However, known clamps are not sufficiently capable of keeping certain types of ropes, such as for example KEVLAR (poly-paraphenylene terephthalamide) ropes (such as PhillyStran or Parafil products) from slipping due to loadings caused by an outside force. Such safety ropes are used to prevent catastrophic failures should the contact wire have a breakage. Should a breakage happen, the safety rope will have a sudden increase in tension and as a result, with currently known clamps, the safety rope could slip through the clamp body.
Accordingly, improved contact wire clamps are desired. For example, contact wire clamps which provide improved safety rope slip prevention would be advantageous.